Cassandra

Cassandra was in a great circular room.

She didn't know where that room was. There was nobody in there aside from her. There were no doors or windows. All there was were white walls with swirls of different shades of blue and violet painted on them. There was a great glass chandelier that lit up the room. There was no furniture, so the place seemed almost empty. Almost, because in the middle, beneath the chandelier, was a grand piano.

Confused and curious, she walked towards the instrument. It was made of glass, with blue sapphires and amethysts embedded on it, creating swirling designs. It was the most beautiful piano she'd ever seen. She let her fingers slide along its edge, and when they reached the keys, she pressed down. The sound echoed across the room.

"Beautiful, isn't it? Like you," a female voice said. Cassandra jumped, and her hand pressed down several of the keys, creating a rather unpleasing sound. She turned around and saw a lady, young and beautiful, with red curly hair and fair skin.

The lady was smiling warmly at her, but Cassandra tensed. She took a step back, wanting to get as far from the woman as possible. She knew the woman. And she knew that in just a matter of time, that smile on her face would turn into a gruesome look of terror and madness.

She turned around, about to run, but she froze when she saw not the white walls, but trees. She turned again and realized she was in a forest clearing. The lady was still with her, but the look on her face had change. She looked at Cassandra with crazed eyes, as she said, "Of death and love, child. Remember, of death and love."

Cassandra's heart beat faster. Her breathing became shallow. Then she noticed that the lady wasn't looking at her anymore, she was looking at the ground past Cassandra. The child of Aphrodite followed her gaze, and a scream tore through her throat.

A guy's body was on the ground.

She ran and dropped to her knees beside him. She felt for his pulse, and found it, slow and barely there. Panic consumed her. She could not let him die. No, she could not lose him. He was too important to her.

She raised the upper part of his body, resting it on her lap, as she cradled his head. "No, you can't leave me. Please don't leave me," she cried.

Cassandra opened her eyes.

She slowly sat up, feeling her chest heave heavily. A drop of sweat slowly made its way down the side of her face, and she wiped it away. The dream had been so real, so much that she was having a difficult time realizing that she was already back to reality.

Her hair stuck uncomfortably to her face and neck, so she pulled it back. As she did so, she saw movement from her peripheral vision. She turned her head, and cursed in Ancient Greek.

In the room was none other than the son of Hades. He was casually leaning at the wall, his hands inside the pockets of his jeans. His eyes were on her, as if analyzing her, but there was also concern in those dark orbs.

"Nightmare?" he asked in a gentle voice, as if trying to comfort her. She gritted her teeth, and replied, "Nope, just a bad dream. You're the nightmare."

She smirked when she saw the look of annoyance that replaced that of concern on his face. Then she looked down to see the wound, or rather what was left of it, she had been enduring the night before. What she saw was not her blood soaked shirt, but the orange camp shirt.

"What the- Why is my shirt orange?" She asked angrily. Nico rolled his eyes and answered, "Do you expect us to leave you in that shirt full of blood? Of course Piper and Annabeth changed your dirty clothes into clean ones."

She glared at him, and said, "I get the point of changing my clothes, but why exactly this orange camp shirt? I believe I had my backpack with me when I came here yesterday. My clothes are there."

He sighed exasperatedly, and then said, "Look, what happened yesterday…it's for the best. You must stay in camp."

The way he said it made her go back to her dream. It made her control on her temper break. She wanted to strangle him right then and there. But she couldn't. Her body was still weak from having almost all her blood drained from her.

So she took out all her anger by shouting.

"It's not for the best! It can never be! It will never be!"

Instead of getting angry at her, like he was the night before, he didn't. He just looked apologetically at her. It fueled her anger. Just as the door opened and revealed a guy with black hair and sea-green eyes, she threw her pillow at Nico and screamed, "I hate you!"

"Whoa, guys. It's early in the morning, you guys should not be fighting," the new guy said, as he stationed himself between them. He received a full glare from her, but he didn't flinch or looked uncomfortable about it. He just went towards the bedside table. On it was a glass with a straw. He got it, and handed it to her, saying, "Here, drink this. It will make you feel better."

"Only physically," Cassandra added, but she took the glass anyway. She needed the nectar to replenish her energy, because she needed to strangle a certain someone. As she took a sip, she tasted melted chocolate mousse.

"What does it taste like?" The guy said, curiosity all over his face. She raised an eyebrow at him, and said, "Why do you care about what nectar tastes like for me?"

He opened his mouth in shock, then he scratched his head. "Geez, I forgot you know a lot already. Anyways, how are you feeling?"

Cassandra rolled her eyes, as she replied, "As if I could kill a certain someone just by strangling him."

The green-eyed guy laughed, while Nico looked pissed off. He offered his right hand, and said, "You're so different from your siblings, even from Piper, and she's the most different. I'm Percy Jackson, by the way, son of Poseidon."

She took his hand and shook it, saying, "I hope you're not like your cousin here."

It made him laugh again. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I think I am. I do believe that some of my, ah, irritating characteristics have rubbed off on him. And if I was in his shoes last night…Well, I would have done the same."

She didn't say a word, but instead, studied him. She could feel that aura of power and leadership in him, and also the warmth and protectiveness. It felt as if he was really welcoming her with open arms, when in fact just the night before he had his sword pointed against her.

As if reading her thoughts, he said, "About last night…Believe me if I say I didn't mean to point a sword on you. It's just that…You did point your sword against Annabeth, and you had disarmed Nico."

"Protective, aren't you?" Cassandra said. She didn't even hold back the tone of sadness in her voice. She knew they heard it, as the two guys exchanged glances. Then Percy turned back to her and said, "Piper asked me to check in on you, and, if you're feeling better, take you to the arena. Is that okay with you?"

"Piper…You're not talking about Piper Mclean, aren't you?"

They raised their eyebrows at her. Once again, she rolled her eyes. "Okay, I get it. She's my half-sister. If you two are already finished being astonished on how much I know, maybe we can go?"

She sighed, knowing very well that everything was not getting better.

And that they would, in a few hours' time, get worse.


Merry Christmas everyone!

As a gift, please do review, favorite, and follow! Thanks! :D